The Voice‘s Nicholas David on ‘Over the Rainbow,’ Clashes With Cee Lo and the Power of ’70s Music

Nicholas David’s approach to song selection on Season 3 of The Voice may have been a little different from that of his fellow contestants.

“I never looked at this experience like it was a competition,” says the Minnesota soul man. “I trust in the Spirit and play from my heart. When we live in our minds, there’s division: Race, religion, creed, political beliefs and all that. But I truly feel when you live from your heart, it’s like a truth that connects us all, and we’re able to breathe a deeper breath where everybody is.”

Nicholas’ freedom to “never really worry about what people will think about anything” might make for an odd juxtaposition with fans’ obsession over the iTunes sales and telephone voting that result in the show’s weekly eliminations, but it worked out pretty well in the end. Nicholas made it all the way to the season finale…